Chapter 1: Thousand Layers of Harmonic Flame (Part 2)

Eagle Demon sat on a rock by the lake; the others were nowhere to be seen. Guo Shier asked, “Where are they?”
Eagle Demon smiled and said, “They went hunting. There are many mutated and aberrant spirit beasts here. We might not be able to defeat the strong ones, but catching some small fish and shrimp is fine.”
Guo Shier asked, “Why aren’t you going?”
Eagle Demon replied, “I’m keeping watch. Hehe, waiting for you to return. Otherwise, you’ll come back and find no one here, and you’ll worry.” He always put Guo Shier first—truly a competent follower.
Guo Shier smiled slightly. After years of working together, they had a deep understanding. He said, “We’ll be staying here for a while. Hunting is indeed a good idea.” No altar master would turn down more souls, especially those with various attributes. Even though Guo Shier already had many Black Armor Bee souls, he still wanted to collect souls from other mutated and aberrant spirit beasts.
Although the altar masters in this world were formidable and powerful, they also had their troubles. Maintaining an altar required countless efforts and time, and they had to risk their lives to gather souls and materials. To advance, these tasks were essential—there was no room for laziness.
Eagle Demon asked, “Should we go hunting too?”
Guo Shier replied, “We can only look around nearby. We can’t go too far. I need to go to the mountain every day.”
Eagle Demon guessed, “Soul fluctuations?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Yes, soul fluctuations.”
Eagle Demon sighed and said, “If your soul fluctuations weren’t useful, we might have been finished by now…” He still remembered the terror he felt when they finally saw Huo Fen Tian after a long escape. That woman was truly terrifying.
Guo Shier shook his head and said, “Zhen Jie slaughtered indiscriminately because of her chaotic soul.”
Eagle Demon shook his head and said, “No. It should be said that her soul was hungry… so it instinctively killed. Thankfully, we escaped quickly, and thankfully, your soul fluctuations could calm her soul.”
Everyone in Guo Shier’s team feared Qi Wu Zhen—even the handsome old man in the altar was terrified and wouldn’t dare show his face. Of course, Guo Shier was much better now. It was hard for him to feel fear toward a woman who often snuggled in his arms to enjoy his soul fluctuations, especially since she was extremely beautiful.
Eagle Demon said, “There’s a mountain range across the lake, with grasslands beside it. Behind us is a vast forest. Where should we go?”

Guo Shier said, “Let’s go to the grassland. It’s more open, and it’ll improve our mood.” He didn’t want to venture into the primeval forest, as staying there for too long made him feel stifled. So he suggested going to the grassland to enjoy the breeze; even if they didn’t hunt, it would be good for relaxing.
Eagle Demon agreed, and the two flew off.
Soon, they were above the grassland. Only then did Guo Shier realize how tall the wild grass there was—just like the reed marshes from his past life. The grass was as tall as two or three meters, so high that if a person fell in, their shadow wouldn’t be visible. The ordinary wild beasts and herbivores here were also enormous; a wild ox could be five or six meters tall and over ten meters long.
Guo Shier sighed, “No wonder there are so many mutated spirit beasts here. The living environment is simply too good.”
Eagle Demon nodded. “With plenty of food, there are more powerful mutated spirit beasts. I understood this when I was on the grassland in my hometown. Hehe, but back there, there weren’t any particularly powerful mutated spirit beasts. Usually, those around level five were already considered top-tier; most were at levels three or four.”
Guo Shier laughed. “Hehe, our hometown is also a treasure land, suitable for ordinary people and low-level professionals to live in. If there really were a few mutated spirit beasts at levels eight or nine, that would be disastrous.”
Eagle Demon shook his head slightly. Back then, he was just a great spirit martial artist and could dominate his hometown. It wasn’t until he left that he realized how ridiculous that was. Now, even though he was a master at the first-tier altar, he still felt anxious because there were too many powerful experts in this world.
Guo Shier spotted a level-six mutated spirit lion, and neither of them felt like attacking it. The mutated spirit lion lay lazily on the ground, its massive frame easily visible even through the several-meter-high grass.
Roar!
A roar came from afar. The mutated spirit lion immediately stood up and stared in that direction. Then, a wave of spiritual energy surged, and without saying a word, it turned and ran away at incredible speed, vanishing into the grass like a gust of wind—its whereabouts unknown.
Guo Shier was surprised. “Is it one of ours hunting?”
Eagle Demon was unsure. “It might be Lao Luo and the other two. I don’t know. They didn’t specify where they were going when they left. Let’s go take a look.”
Guo Shier nodded. “It could also be a fight between mutated spirit beasts.” He knew well that in this secret realm, despite the many advanced mutated and aberrant spirit beasts, finding even one of them wasn’t easy. After all, the area was vast, and each advanced mutated or aberrant spirit beast occupied a huge territory. Finding them required some luck as well.

The two of them flew quickly in the direction from where the roar came. Moments later, they saw three people hovering in mid-air, with a mutated giant lizard over sixty meters long lying in the grass, seemingly dead. Guo Shier took a quick look and said, “It’s a level-9 mutated giant lizard. Strange, what do they want it for?”
Eagle Demon said, “Maybe Old Luo or Nan You needs it. Right now, they have an illusory altar, and the soul of such a mutated talisman beast… is a fine sacrifice.”
Guo Shier shouted, “Uncle Luo, Nan You…”
Wang Keer asked in surprise, “How did you guys get here?”
Eagle Demon smiled and said, “We came out to clear our minds.”
Guo Shier asked, “Have you taken the soul of this giant lizard?”
Luo Zhan said, “I just happened to need some souls. Hehe, the souls of the black-armored bees I got earlier, I could only use part of them. Insect souls aren’t very suitable for me.”
Guo Shier wondered, “Uncle Luo, you’re going to develop a thunder-based altar in the future, right? You can use any kind of soul, right?”
Luo Zhan shook his head. “I haven’t built my own solid altar yet, so I can’t switch to a thunder-based altar for now. That’s why I need other souls.”
Guo Shier asked, “How many more souls do you need?”
Luo Zhan replied, “It’s not a huge amount. A few dozen soul beasts will suffice. They don’t have to be very advanced—level 7 or below, level 10 or above is fine. It’s best if they’re mutated talisman beasts or aberrant talisman beasts. Aberrant talisman beasts can even be at a lower level.”
Guo Shier asked the old man and found over twenty soul beasts that met the requirements. He handed them to Luo Zhan and said, “That’s all I have for now. During this time, aside from returning to the camp once a day, I’ll help you hunt mutated talisman beasts.”
Wang Keer complained, “Hey, I didn’t say I’d help hunt!”
Guo Shier smiled slightly. “You don’t have to. Just the few of us are enough. It won’t take days to finish.”
Wang Keer felt a bit upset. She thought Guo Shier was underestimating her and said, “I’m also part of the team. You can’t leave me behind…”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but laugh. He had plenty of experience dealing with people like her. As long as he ignored her and didn’t take her seriously, she would become restless. He said, “Huh, wasn’t that what you said… you wouldn’t help hunt?”
Wang Keer froze momentarily. Her face turned slightly red as she said, “I was just joking… Hey, you’re so mean!”
Guo Shier replied calmly, “Since you want to participate, then… you have to follow my orders.”
Wang Keer protested, “Why!”

Guo Shier said, “Because… I’m the captain of this team!”
Wang Keer still wasn’t convinced. She said, “I want to be the captain too. If you don’t agree, let’s have a competition! The winner will be the captain.”
Guo Shier touched his chin, amused inwardly. Whether it was Eagle Demon or Luo Zhan, they were all his followers, even Nan You wasn’t an exception. But Nan You still had some freedom; as long as he wanted to leave, Guo Shier wouldn’t stop him. Wang Keer didn’t have enough qualifications to become the captain.